


She's So Gone

by Asphault



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Doomsday War, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, L'Mantree, L'manburg Doomsday, Not Beta Read, This can be romantic or platonic, l'manburg, mostly angst though, no beta we die like men, the death of L'manburg, the title is a reference to lemonade mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28676052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asphault/pseuds/Asphault
Summary: Niki burned down the L'mantree, and it's eating her alive.She loved this tree.She loved this country.She loved Wilbur.
Relationships: Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot, Niki | Nihachu/Wilbur Soot
Kudos: 94





	She's So Gone

The ledge is unstable from the recent carnage, but Niki sits down on it anyways, legs hanging into the seemingly bottomless pit. She doesn’t have to look down to know it leads to cold, unforgiving bedrock. Freshly dyed pink hair flutters around her face as a lonely breeze blows past her, carrying the heavy scent of sulfur. Some of the buildings are still smoking and the TNT cannons still hang above the land - probably the last stable thing left in L’Manburg. The abandoned nation is crying, _ screaming _ for someone to pick up the pieces and put out the fires. 

This time it’s not going to be Niki.

Goosebumps rise on her arms as the gunpowder tainted air grows colder around her. With the remnants of a fallen dream still smoldering, it seems impossible to feel so cold, but it’s not unfathomable. Not with this guilt crawling along Niki’s skin, as she stares out over the weeping destruction of what used to be called ‘home’. 

“Do you mind if I join you?” a lilted and friendly tone calls, echoing despite there being nothing for the sound to reverberate off of. Niki’s heart lurches as her head snaps up to the grey, translucent figure looming over her. 

_ Wilbur.  _

_ No.  _

_ Ghostbur.  _

Wilbur had unmistakable dark circles around his eyes, and a terrifying hunger in his eyes. Something that could never be sated; Niki found out the hard way. His demeanor had quickly strayed from martyrdom and determination when the stress of leading a country had properly gotten to him. She experienced it first hand - the way the unrest ate away at him as if it were personal. She watched as he was overthrown by a dictator and banished from the land he’d worked so hard to protect.

In stark contrast, Ghostbur spends most of his time in the sewers or with sheep, collecting blue dye so that he can share with the whole of the SMP. Ghostbur does all that he can to raise the spirits of everyone he meets, Whereas Wilbur was a hard realist.

Even now, in such a low time, Ghostbur comes to Niki wearing sunshiney yellows and arms full of cornflowers. A somber look dampens his features as the white pits of his eyes bore into Niki’s soul.

“Of course.” She manages, tucking a vivid strand of hair behind her ear. 

Ghostbur deposits the flowers on the ground before sitting himself beside the girl. He radiates something frigid, sad. Niki feels it seep into her bones as she pulls her cardigan closer around herself. It doesn’t help. 

“I was told you burned down the L’Man Tree.” Ghostbur says. There’s no anger behind those words, merely a statement. 

“I did,” Niki starts, swallowing down the guilt as it tries to climb into her throat, “What are you doing here, Ghostbur? I know you don’t want to see this.” 

Niki knows she’s right, because even when he was alive, Wilbur hated seeing things be broken or harmed. That’s one of the reasons Niki had done her very best to rebuild what was lost when the SMP proper had attacked L’manburg in its infancy. She always hated to see him upset. 

  
That Niki is such a far cry from the girl who burned the longest standing landmark to the ground. Somewhere, in the depths of her still wounded heart, Niki knows that she misses the kinship of this place.

The spirit huffs a halfhearted laugh through his nose, looking out over the chasm and a wary smile creeps onto his pristine features, “I thought Friend deserved a proper memorial. I loved Friend. Of course.. I loved L’Manburg too, but... L’Manburg… it was never meant to be.” 

Niki freezes at that statement, eyes going wide as she looks into the white expanse of Ghostbur’s gaze. He smiles softly, almost condescendingly at her, and it’s impossible to tell if he knows the weight of the words he’d just said. 

“It was never meant to be.” She repeats, eyes welling with tears. 

“Why are _ you _ here, Niki?” Wilbur’s voice echos as he gently nudges his shoulder against her’s. He’d done that many times before death as well, jostling her with a smile that bloomed with fondness. As her eyes flutter shut, tears begin to slip down her cheeks and words spill from her mouth as if a dam had broken. 

“God, Will- or - sorry, Ghostbur-”

“You can call me Will if you’d like.” 

“Will, I did so much for this place. I tried so hard. I fought in a revolution for fucks sake! Twice! When Dream bombed L’manburg… I picked up the pieces. When Schlatt threw you- or - Alivebur out, I came to Pogtopia to help you form a plan. I helped overthrow him and I helped Tubbo rebuild this place from the ground up after Alivebur…” 

“Blew it up.” Ghostbur finishes for her, a tired laugh falling from his lips as one freezing hand pets the tears away from Niki’s cheeks. 

“Yeah. Nobody ever thanked me, not once. I’ve had my home destroyed over and over again, Will, and I always forgave _ everyone _ . I can’t be that person anymore.” 

A pregnant silence falls between the two of them as Ghostbur wraps an arm around Niki’s shoulder and pulls her into a chilling hug. Somehow, she finds warmth in it. 

“Y’know Niki, I think you’re amazing. I remember when you joined L’Manburg. I was so proud of you!” he chirps, unphased by the way Niki dissolves into sobs, wetting the fabric of Ghostbur’s crewneck, “and when you came to Pogtopia, I was so happy you were safe and back by my side. Your I think.. I remember a lot about you. You’re a happy memory, Niki.” 

Niki clings to him like a lifeline as her chest catches fire with those memories. She knows that in those moments she’d felt overlooked and ignored, but the assertion of her importance sets her alight and burns her resolve to the ground, just like the country they’re sat in. 

Niki doesn’t know how long she sits there, relishing in the feeling of Ghostbur’s hand carding through her hair. He smells like a meadow full of flowers and a crisp winter morning, and Niki doesn’t want to pull away to see the sulfur stained reality. 

“I think this place is a whole lot of bad memories,” Ghostbur starts in his lilted tone, “I’m going to go plant my flowers for Friend. How about after that I walk you home?” 

Niki nods, swallowing thickly as she realizes that there’s nowhere for Ghostbur to walk her. Nowhere to call home anymore. Ghostbur wipes Niki’s tears one last time and presses an icy kiss to her forehead. The familiarity of it beacons her to follow as he stands, gethers his flowers, and wanders off, planting them left and right - but she doesn’t. Instead, Niki stays, staring out over the ruins and bathing in a blend of love and regret, guilt and grief - it burns. it burns her alive. 


End file.
